Venezuela recalls Mexico envoy in dispute

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela ordered its ambassador recalled from Mexico in an escalating diplomatic dispute between President Hugo Chavez and his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox over regional trade agreements.

Mexico threatened to withdraw its ambassador to Venezuela and send Venezuela's envoy home if Caracas did not apologize after Chavez warned off Fox just days after branding him a "lap dog" of US imperialism.

"We have ordered the immediate return of our ambassador Vladimir Villegas, leaving our affairs... in the hands of a business attache," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez told reporters.

- REUTERS